Sealed metallic container



NOV- 25, 1952 M. L. BRlcoUT SEALED METALLIC CONTAINER Filed Jan. 13,1948 Patented Nov.. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ApplicationJanuary 13, 1948, Serial No. 1,953 In France January 14, 1947 2 Claims.

The present invention refers to sealed metallic containers adapted toreceive liquid or semiliquid products, and l.more particularly tohermetically sealed tin-cans containing alimentary liquids, such asfruit juices, beer, milk etc., or any industrial liquids, such assolvents, cleaning solutions, paints, varnishes, etc.

An object of the invention is to do away with the use of a separate toolsuch as a can-opener for opening the container or the necessity ofpunching a discharge hole, and eventually also a vent hole, in the flatcover of said container.

Another object is to incorporate to the cover of the containerhand-operated opening means without having to make any substantialchanges in the manufacturing, lling and sealing processes and machineryor tools in present use for making, filling and sealing such containers,and Without adding substantially to the bulk of said containers.

Still another object, in the case of a beverage container, is tofacilitate direct use of this container as a drinking vessel with thehelp of a sucking pipe, such as a stalk of straw or of an artificialstraw.

A further object of the invention is to provide a container which can bereadily opened and hermetically closed by hand several times insuccession when only part of its content is used at a particular time.

Another object, isl to provide a container or tin-can Which can bere-utilized--ie. re-filledwhen preferably thoroughly cleaned anddesinfected after each use.

A feature of the invention is to provide a relatively small permanentdischarge orifice in one of the two at faces of the container andsealing means, for closing hermetically said orifice, associated with ameans of leverage in-v corporated on said face of the container formaintaining this orce tightly closed up to the moment of use of all orpart of the liquid content of the can and allowing for the ready manualopening of this orifice without the help of any accessory tool at thetime of this use.

Another feature resides in the fact that ythe discharge orifice isprovided laterally in the. cover of the container near the edge of saidcover and in the fact that said means of leverage is constituted by arigid lever, diametrically fixed flat across said cover so as to coverand close said orifice up to the mcment of the use of the container.

Still another feature is to interpose the hermetic sealing or packingmeans between said 2 lever and the cover of the container around theorifice and to use them simultaneously as means of fixation of the leverto said cover.

Still another feature is to provide this lever with hand-operatedopening means to open said orifice without the help of any separate toolwhen it is desired to discharge part or the whole of the liquid contentof the container.

In a first embodiment of the invention, the lever is held on theapertured face of the con.- tainer by being soldered, cemented,spot-welded or sea-led up thereto around the discharge orifice, and isprovided with a raised portion forming the handle thereof.

In a second embodiment, a portion of the upstanding iiange of thecontainer, raised as usual above ythe level of the apertured facethereof, is slightly bent inwards, so as to form a fulcrum around whichone of the ends of the lever pivots when its other bent end is presseddown on the raised edge of the container so as to compress a rubber ringengaged in a circular groove forming a reinforcing bead around thedischarge orifice.

In a4 third embodiment, the lever is pierced close to one of itsextremities by a hole registering with the discharge orifice and is keptxed on the cover of the container by means of a biconvex seal made oflatex injected and molded around and between this registering hole andorifice during the manufacture of the container, and is stamped andpunched toward its other extremity so as to form a piercing pointcapable of piercing a vent in the cover of the container when onepresses down on said extremity of the lever preferably for lifting saidextremity of the lever for breaking the seal and opening the dischargeorifice.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the reading of the following description inkconjunction with the accompanying drawings, which show four embodimentsof the invention as illustrative examples thereof, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an axial section of the first en'iy bodiment;

Fig. 2 is a. perspective view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a similar section of the second embodiment;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view thereof showing the opening operation ofthe can Fig. 5 is a section of the third embodiment;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view thereof; and

Fig. 7 is an axial section of a fourth embodi ment.

Referring now to Fig. 1, I indicates the cylindrical body of thecontainer or tin-can and 2 its cover having a circumferential edge, saidcover also having an upstanding endless flange 3.

According to the present invention a discharge orifice 4 of relativelysmall diameter is provided in the flat top wall 2 of the sealedcontainer structure and contiguous to the circumferential edge thereof.As clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, the upstanding fiange 3 defines theuppermost end of the container structure. Extending across the top wallor cover 2 is an elongated closure element in the form of asubstantially flat and rigid lever, the latter being arranged Within thespace defined by the circumferential edge.

The lever includes a median dished or reinforced body portion 5 whichterminates in opposite offset ends. One of the ends or extremities 6forms a handle which can be manually operated to effect the removal ofthe lever from the top Wall.

Both of the offset ends of the lever extend above the top wall and belowthe uppermost end of the container structure, at least one of the offsetends of the lever defining a curved recess 8 between the upstandingflange 3 and the top wall 2. The median dished portion 5 of the lever isspaced substantially along its entire length from the top wall 2 andincludes a. part which spacedly overlies the discharge opening 4.

Disposed in the space intermediate the par-t of the lever overlying thedischarge opening is a sealing means 1 in the form of a circularsoldering seam which seals the discharge opening and forms a supportingfulcrum for the lever. As illustrated, the curved recess is positionedremote from the soldered portion or sealing means 'I and facilitates theremoval of the lever from the discharge opening 4 by the hand of anoperator.

The operation of this embodiment is very simple. When it is desired toempty the container, one lifts the raised extremity 6 of the lever 5 byintroducing the nail of the thumb under the notch 8. Thereby, onedetaches the opposed extremity, soldered to the cover 2, by breaking thecircular line of solder 1 surrounding the orifice 4. The liquid contentof the can may then, either be used on the spot by utilizing the canitself as a drinking vessel with the help of a sucking tube, such as astraw, introduced through the orifice 4, or by emptying the can in aglass, or any other container, through said orifice 4.

It should be noted that the device just described for hermeticallyclosing and manually opening a liquid container or tin-can may bereadily adapted to any conventional type of metallic container withouthaving to make any change in the manufacture, filling and sealing ofsaid container, except the piercing of the orifice 4 of the cover 2.

One should note further, that the bulk of the device according to theinvention is so reduced that it may be entirely lodged within the flatcylindrical space formed by the upstanding fiange 3 above the cover 2 ofthe container, without any part of the device sticking above said spaceor beyond said flange 3.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the orice 4 is pierced in the cover 2in the center of a small circular bead 9, in which is permanentlyengaged a ring I0 made of rubber cr any other suitable material inert tothe liquid filling the container. This rubber ring projects above theupper lever of the cover 2 when uncompressed. In this embodiment, thelever 5 is fulcrumed at one of its extremities in a notch II formed bybending slightly inwards a portion of the upstanding flange 3. Theopposed extremity of the lever 5 is bent, as at I2, so as to embrace thediametrically opposed portion of this fiange 3, when one presses thisextremity I2 of the lever 5 down so as to compress the ring I0 andthereby close hermetically the orifice 4. In this lower position thenail notch 8 forming the free extremity of the bent end I2 of the lever5 presses elastically against the adjacent lower part, bent inwards, ofthe flange 3 so as to lock elastically and detachably the lever 5 in itsactive position of closure of the hermetic joint, formed by the rubberring 4. In order to open the container, it sufiices to engage the nailunder the notch 8 and to lift the extremity I2 of the lever 5.

If it is desired to use only a part of the liquid content of thecontainer, as the rubber ring I0 is bonded to the bead 8, it is possibleto put the lever back in position so as to close hermetically theorifice 4 as often as desired.

In the third embodiment, Fig. 5, the orifice 4 is pierced in the bottomof a more or less spherical depression I3, formed in the cover 2 nearthe upstanding flange 3 of said cover. One of the extremities of lever 5is provided, opposite the orifice 4, with a hole I4, while at the other'extremity there is formed, by stamping and partial cutting of a smalltriangular portion, a piercing point I5, projecting downwards betweenthe raised extremity of the lever and the cover 2. In this embodiment,the lever 5 is secured to the container I at the time 0f the filling andclosing operations of the container. The fixation is made by injectinglatex in a liquid condition, between a matrix and a counter-matrixinserted in the interior of the container I, in a biconvex sealingpocket formed between and by these two matrices, respectively above andbeneath the corresponding holes 4 and I4. After removal of the twomatrices and solidiiication of the latex, one forms thus around theholes 4 and I4 and in the pocket I3 a seal or biconvex sealing lens I5of latex which closes hermetically the two holes 4 and I4.

This embodiment operates as follows: when it is desired to open the canI, one presses down with considerable force the extremity of the lever 5opposed to the seal I6, so as to pierce in the cover 2 a small vent holeby means of the point I5. This done, one engages the thumbnail under thethumb-notch 8 and one lifts the lever 5 so as to break and detach thelatex seal I6 from the bottom of the pocket I3 and one removes the lever5, carrying said seal I6, so as to uncover the discharge orifice 4.

In the fourth embodiment (Fig. 7), the lever 5 is held down on the cover2 of the can by the wedging engagement of a stamped circular depressionI'I of said lever into a corresponding slanting depression I8, stampedin the cover 2 around the discharge orifice 4. When forcing thedepression I 'I into the depression I8, one compresses a rubber WasherI9, or equivalent, interposed between the lever 5 and the cover 2 aroundthe slanting depression I1, so as to insure a hermetic closure of thedischarge orifice 4.

Many modifications could be made in any of these four embodimentswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

For instance, in the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4, the grip I2 of thelever 5 could be replaced by a down-turned end forced and wedged againstthe inner periphery of the upstanding flange 3 of the can, which edgewill 5 there present a second internally bent portion I I, diametricallyopposed to the first.

Obviously, the attachment of the lever to the cover of the can and thehermetic closing of the discharge orifice provided in this cover couldbe realized in any suitable manner with out departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

Obviously also the shape of the lever, its length and the reinforcingribs that may be formed in order to increase its rigidity may varyconsiderably without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It is equally possible without departing from the spirit of theinvention to provide a discharge opening and a lever on each fiat faceof the container, for instance in order to empty rapidly the latter.

Finally, one could pierce in the cover 2 a small permanent vent holethat the lever 5 wouldv -hermeteally close by any suitable tighteningmeans up to the moment of the use of the container.

Havin-g thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a sealed container structure having a t-op Wall With acircumferential edge and with an upstanding flange; said top wall beingprovided with a dis-charge opening, an elongated, one-piece metallicclosure element in the form of a substantially flat, `rigid leverextending diametrically across and confined within said circumferentialedge, said lever being provided with an intermediate recessed portionand opposite ends at either side of said recessed portion, said endsbeing shaped to extend above said top wall and below said flange, atleast one of said ends of said lever defining a recess between said angeand -said top Wall, said intermediate portion of said lever including anextremity in contact with said openin-g of said top wall, and sealingmeans joining said extremity of said lever with a part of said top Wallsurrounding said opening to thereby hermeti-cally seal said container,said recess being positioned remote from said ext-remity andfacilitating removal of said lever from said opening by means of thehan-d of an operator, the other end of said lever being shaped to allowsaid other end to puncture said container in at least one place of saidtop wall prior to the removal of said lever from said container.

2. In a sealed container structure having a flat top wall terminating ina circumferential edge, and a ange extending upwardly from said top walland -deiining the uppermost end of said container structure, said topwall being provided with a discharge opening adjacent saidcircumferential edge; an elongated closure element in the form of asubstantially flat and 4rigid lever extending across said top wall andwithin the space defined by said circumferential edge, said leverincluding a median dished portion terminating in opposite offset ends,-both said oilset ends extending above said top wall and below theuppermost end of said container structure, at least one of sai-d oisetends of said lever defining a curved recess between said flange and saidtop wall, said median -dished portion of said lever being spacedsubstantially along the entire length of said top Wall and including apart lspacedly overlying said discharge opening, and sealing meanswithin the space intermediate said part of said lever and the portion ofsaid top wall surrounding said discharge opening to thereby seal saiddischarge opening and to form a supporting fulcrum for said lever, saidcurved recess being positioned remote from said part and facilitatingremoval of said lever from said discharge opening by means of the handof an operator.

MARIE LOUISE BRICOUT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,544,384 Fenn June 30, 19251,963,797 Mills June 19, 1934 2,024,511 Darling Dec. 1'7, 1935 2,027,137Yeomans Jan. 7, 1936 2,034,007 Smith Mar. 17, 1936 2,147,004 Wark et al.Feb. 14, 1939 2,153,344 Selliken Apr. 4, 1939 2,429,984 Berglund Nov. 4,1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 520,522 Great Britain Apr. 25,1940 634,941 Germany Sept. 5, 1936

